A carrier that lives in the room
The single biggest mistake is storing the carrier away and producing it only on appointment days, which teaches a kitten within two outings that the box means a journey. Instead, park it in a room your kitten already likes, door fastened open, with a familiar-smelling blanket inside. Let her discover it herself, wander in, and come out freely. Toss treats inside during play so entering it becomes part of games she enjoys. Some kittens claim the carrier as a preferred nap spot within days, which is the ideal outcome: an animal who chooses to sleep in the box will never need to be chased and stuffed into it.
Close the door in stages she can pass
Once she rests inside voluntarily, begin closing the door while she eats a treat inside, opening it again before she finishes. Repeat until the closed door is unremarkable, then add lifting the carrier a few centimetres and setting it down, then carrying it to another room and back. Keep each stage to a handful of calm repetitions before moving on, and if she cries or scratches at the door, return to the previous stage for a day rather than letting her rehearse panic. A top-opening carrier can make the lifting stage easier for kittens who dislike walking through the door, but the step-by-step logic is the same either way.
Make the first journeys boring
When practice moves to the car, start with journeys that go nowhere interesting: sit in the stationary car with the carrier secured, then a two-minute drive and home again, finishing with a meal. Covering the carrier with a light cloth helps many kittens settle by removing the visual rush of passing scenery. Secure the carrier so it cannot slide, keep the car cool and quiet, and drive gently. By the time a genuine appointment comes, the kitten has a history of short, uneventful trips, so the longer ride is a variation on something familiar rather than a first experience stacked on top of a stressful destination.
What to do if she already dislikes it
If your kitten already runs when the carrier appears, do not start by practising trips; start by rebuilding the box itself. Clean it to remove old stress scents, change the bedding, move it to a new spot, and restart the open-door stage as if it were a new object. Feed her meals progressively closer to it, then just inside, over a week or more. Avoid the temptation to test her with a real outing halfway through the rebuild, because one frightening trip can erase several calm days. Persistent, extreme distress in transit is worth raising at a check-up so travel anxiety can be discussed properly.
One routine that everyone follows
Carrier training fails quietly when one person practises patiently and another, running late, corners the kitten and forces her in. Share the current training stage, the treats that work, and the rule that practice never ends in a forced entry, so whoever prepares for an outing does it the same way. KinsLe Family Sharing keeps your kitten's profile and care notes visible to the family members who help, which means the carrier plan, her favourite bedding and the stage she has reached are the same information for everyone.